Suspect arrested after report of gunman near Southwestern College

Southwestern College was placed on lockdown for about an hour Monday afternoon after a male, possibly armed with a gun, was seen running toward the Chula Vista campus, police said.

A suspect was taken into custody, and a replica handgun was recovered, according to a statement from the college.

The gunman was first spotted by school officials at Bonita Vista High School on Otay Lakes Road around 12:30 p.m., Chula Vista police Lt. Miriam Byron said. Soon after, he was seen heading toward the nearby college toting what appeared to be a handgun.

Police informed the college of the possible threat and school officials locked the school down. A gunman was not located and the lockdown was lifted about 2:10 p.m.

“Campus Police were confident the suspect was no longer on campus and lifted the lockdown,” the college’s statement said

Summer school is in session at Bonita High School, but it’s unclear if the male is a student there.

When the lockdown went into effect, students were quick to barricade themselves in classrooms. Southwestern College Adjunct Professor Shannon Pagano said her psychology students flipped off the lights and placed extra tables in front of locked doors and windows. Then they huddled in a corner of the room, and waited for the all clear.

“We aren't talking in the classroom. Everyone is huddled in the corner on their phones,” she said via Facebook.

Some children also were on campus, participating in the College for Kids program. They, too, were locked inside classroom. Once the lockdown was lifted, campus police officers escorted them to a parking lot where their parents had been instructed to pick them up, Southwestern College’s statement said.